Womens participation in tech exam plateaus

Updated on: Tuesday, April 12, 2011

IITians often joke about the most endangered species on campus: women. But from their single digit presence just 40 years ago to around 1, 500 now, women have come a long way in the country’s premier tech schools.

Still, this year’s JEE was the first time in years that the percentage of women who took the test fell from the previous edition, albeit marginally: from 24.83 per cent to 23.3 per cent. In absolute terms, their participation remained the same as it was in 2010—1.13 lakh—while the total number of candidates went up from 4.55 lakh to 4.85 lakh.

“The change in participation by women was not dramatic for years,” said Gautam Barua, director, IIT-Guwahati. Consider this. In 1972, IIT-Bombay had merely six women students. The number hovered around that figure in the next few decades; even 30 years later, there were just 13 women students in the institute.

But five years ago, women’s participation witnessed a sudden spurt. The reason was simple: halving the cost of the form for female candidates. The measure was taken on the recommendation of the National Task Force for Women in Science, to which scientific advisor to the prime minister CNR Rao was appointed as head in 2006. Now, while male candidates pay Rs 1, 000 per form, female ones pay Rs 500.

“The IITs would like many more women on campus. Their underrepresentation is a societal problem,” Barua said. “I don’t know why parents are not encouraging their daughters to join the IITs.”

Womens participation in tech exam plateaus

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